Welcome to Gary's Mexico Adventures!

MEXICAN VOLCANOES 1993-4

Twas the day after Christmas with snow and ice everywhere. Slid into Dulles Airport at 6 a.m. and flew to Dallas (Sonny Jurgensen and Sam Huff were aboard to broadcast the Redskins game that afternoon). Did some moneychanging and flew on to Mexico City. On the approach the summit cone of Popocatepetl (17,700') was just visible above the thick smog layer. Landed, cleared customs, & took a cab to the Hotel Fleming where I had a small but nice single room.

Our local guide & host, Miguel Najera, called and met me & Frank (from Alabama) in the lobby for coffee. Then Bob & Michelle (our guides from the Colorado Mountain School in Estes Park) showed up, followed shortly by Sterling (also of Estes) and Mike (from Indiana). We went to dinner at Sanborn's and then to Plaza Garibaldi to listen to mariachi bands while downing Coronas at the Tlaquepaque bar. Then we walked through the Three Kings Festival and multitudes with Santa hats in the large plaza near our hotel.

My room had a regular faucet and another labeled 'Potable Agua'. I thought I knew what that meant, so I drank a little and brushed my teeth. When I told the guides the next morning how nice it was for the hotel to provide drinking water, they laughed and suggested an immediate dose of Imodium. Oops.

At breakfast, Rory from Oklahoma and John from Cincinnati joined us. We spent the day sightseeing (museums, cathedrals, local food, shopping at the Green Market, etc.) and then took a bus to Miguel's house where we had a wonderful turkey, spaghetti, & cheesecake dinner. Then we went grocery shopping but had trouble finding good expedition food. We returned to Miguel's where most of us bunked in an upstairs bedroom. It was chilly and dogs were barking all night.

Next day we had breakfast, then took a wild bus ride to Amecameca, a small town where we got our first ground-level views of the volcanoes. We also got cambio (changed more money), stocked up on fruits & Diamox (over-the-counter!), ate locally (I had salted beef with cream - very good!), and did a little hill climb to help acclimatize. Then took a crowded van up to the Tlamacas Lodge at 13,000'.

The lodge used to be run by the Park Service but they ran out of money, so now it was just a shell with no heat or running water, and very unsanitary as it was used for shelter and restrooms by climbers, tourists, and others.

But the view was gorgeous. We were on the saddle between Popo and Ixtacahuatl, and at this altitude the sky was clear and the summits smokin'. (As I write this, Popo is closed to climbers because of intermittent eruptions.)

We had a small dinner inside then stepped out after dark - it was warm, windy, and the moonlight bathed the mountain with an iridescent glow... We swapped climbing stories, played hearts, and tried to sleep but there were people coming in & going out all night - some beginning their climb, others just wandering around.

We had pancakes for breakfast, then hiked up about 1,500 feet and practiced with ropes and ice axes in our climbing gear while lightly-dressed tourists gawked, laughed, and took pictures. On our way back down to the lodge we carried trash bags and cleaned up the trail as much as we could - we were joined by enthusiastic locals who helped a lot and asked a lot of questions to which most of us could only reply 'no intiendo!'.

Back at the lodge we made final gear and packing adjustments then tried to sleep until 12:45 a.m. Got up, had a quick breakfast, dressed and hit the trail at 2:00. The first few miles were very laborious slogging through volcanic ash, breathing in the dust kicked up by the people in front. At about 05:00 we arrived at a place at 15,000' called 'The Hut', which probably used to be, but now it was just a couple of rock piles. We took a very cold break and then headed straight up a 1000' ash pile to the base of the snow. Frank & Rory were literally falling on their faces from exhaustion on this stretch, and wisely agreed to turn back without attempting the summit. Michelle led them back to the lodge.

The rest of us cramponed up 'The Stair', another 1000' of snow steps left by previous climbers. This put us at a low point on the crater rim.

Up here, the air was not only thin, it was very sulfurous and lung-searing whenever the wind blew from the crater. We stumbled up the last 700' to the summit (2:15 p.m.) and took some pictures. There was a small tin hut and a fallen cross near the peak. We had a few snacks and started back.

Unfortunately, two of the guys lost their cameras on the way down due to wind and numb fingers (fortunately, they were the one-time use variety) . We took a different route down, traversing some steep, rock-hard ice to get into a scree gully, then just letting gravity take us down in increments of a few hundred feet until our "brakes" (quads) needed a rest. Arrived back at the lodge at 6:40 and tried to eat 'Michelle's Olio' (a mix of lots of things), but was a bit queasy. Went to bed early and slept well.

The next day we drove to Joaquim's in Tlachachuca, packed up all our Orizaba gear in his courtyard (surrounded by chickens, dogs, cows and a turkey), had a good lunch (beans, tortillas, salsa), and rode in the back of a rickety pickup truck over very bumpy roads and non-roads, dodging tree branches, until we arrived at the Orizaba hut (four stone walls and a tin roof). Stretched out on a wooden platform and rested until 12:45 a.m. again. Light breakfast, dressed, and out at 2:00.

It was New Year's Day! (had forgotten that until we saw a large & bright shooting star that crossed the entire skyline). Climbed through rocks and dust, got lost a little and had to backtrack some, eventually got to base of snow and put on crampons. We had to rope up and use pickets (long stakes used as ice anchors) because the ice was very hard and steep and a fall would be very serious.

We crossed a glacier, then cramponed over rocks to another glacier where we climbed, still picketing, to about 18,000'. At this point Bob scouted ahead to check snow conditions and the rest of us took a break (except me - I was roped to Bob and had to follow him up a ways). I was pretty tired because I had been pulling Rory up most of the last 2000' and was also coming down with the Revenge. We were only about 800' from the summit, but Bob reported there was a loose layer of fresh snow atop the hard ice, and our group was likely to cause an avalanche, so after a brief discussion we headed back.

After crossing the glaciers, we unroped and straggled back into camp one at a time. Had some hot chocolate. When Rory finally arrived bringing up the rear, we collapsed into the pickup and bounced back down into town. Dinner was already on the table, so we ate still dressed in our climbing gear. Then took turns in the shower, folded up the dining room table, and cocooned together on the floor and listened to Rory snore until Frank kicked him and the rest of us finally got to sleep.

The next day we took a field trip to an excavated Aztec city and pyramids just outside of Mexico City, then returned to Miguel's house for dinner (mostly tequila and cerveza). Then Rory wallpapered Bob with his personal exploits and the rest of us charmed Michelle with our black toenails. Also Frank's stories of the Crimson Tide Elephant.

On our last day, I had the latest flight out, so I got to talk to Miguel quite a bit about climbing, dancing, and butterflies (I think - my Spanish is not very good). Then flew home for four days of rest before heading to Argentina for my Aconcagua adventure!

Take me back to Gary's Base Camp.